When It's All in Your Name

If you thought the only way to get a scholarship was to win the Westinghouse Science Competition or write a prize-winning essay, here's some good news. At Harvard you can win a scholarship just for having the right name.

Harvard offers scholarship money to admitted students whose last names are Anderson, Baxendale, Borden, Bright, Downer, Pennoyer and Murphy, according to the National Scholarship Research Service in San Rafael, California.

James Miller, director of Financial Aids at Harvard-Radcliffe, confirmed most of the names, and said that for a few scholarships, students must also be descendants of the original donors.

According to Miller, Harvard has persuaded most of the donors' executors to include financial need as a requirement for the scholarships. However, some "haven't been convinced." Students with the surnames Ellis, Downer or Pennoyer, can still receive scholarship money regardless of need.

Because the funds for most of these scholarships were established long ago, Miller said the University may not defy the donors' stipulations. For instance, the Charles Downer Scholarship Fund, set up in 1927, states that, "Scholarships shall first be awarded to students of the University, whether in the academic department or in any graduate or professional school, who bear the family name or surname of Downer."

The Calvin and Lucy Ellis Aid pays "the fees of tuition and instruction...of such descendants of David Ellis...and John Ellis...provided his, or her, morals and scholarship are such as to allow him or her to remain a member of the college."

Bequests often allow Harvard to expand the criteria for scholarships if no one has fulfilled the original prerequisites, Miller said. The William Pennoyer Bequest of 1670 offers assistance to any descendant of Robert Pennoyer, or, alternatively, a student born in New Haven.

For each scholarship, the interest from the original donation is divided annually among the eligible students; the annual interest payments on some funds can amount to nearly $20,000, while the number of annual recipients can vary between none and six, Miller said.

If your last name doesn't fit the bill--or if your bill doesn't fit the name--there are other ways to get help in financing a college education.

"Because federal funding is drying up, students have to look to the private sector for help," said Dan Cassidy, director of the National Scholarship Research Service, which published a list of the 10 most unusual scholarships of 1988.

The list includes a study grant for descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and a scholarship for left-handed freshmen enrolled at Juniata College. According to the book, the donors were a left-handed couple who met in their first year on Juniata's tennis team.

Students can fill out a 40-question application and send it to the service, which matches up each applicant with suitable scholarships. Cassidy also recently published The Scholarship Book: The Complete Guide to Private-Sector Scholarships, Grants and Loans for Undergraduates.